recursive compound word
recursive compound word noun: compound word composed of at least one other compound word.
Noun
recursive compound word (plural recursive compound words)
- Compound word composed of at least one other compound word.
- The recursive compound word "chocolate teapot" is composed of "chocolate" and "teapot" which itself is also a compound word composed of "tea" and "pot".
- A structure of recursive compound words has not been discussed by many researchers in the generative linguistics. In compounding, recursion can be defined that a compound noun freely becomes the base of another compound noun (Namiki 1988).2008 October, Makiko Mukai, “Recursive compounds”, in Word Structure, volume 1, number 2, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 178-198
Forms of recursive compound word
| plural | recursive compound words |
|---|
Origin of recursive compound word
From recursive + compound word (which itself, being a compound word, is autological), making the word recursive compound word autological too.
Words formed from recursive compound word
- recursive compound
Questions about recursive compound word
- What does recursive compound word mean?
- Recursive compound word means compound word composed of at least one other compound word.
- What part of speech is recursive compound word?
- Recursive compound word is a noun.
- What is the plural of recursive compound word?
- The plural of recursive compound word is recursive compound words.
Words near recursive compound word in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: recursive compound word (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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